ECAC Journal: Samuels-Thomas never foresaw his fortune

Jordan Samuels-Thomas has 12 points through his first 24 games as
a Bobcat. (Photo: Quinnipiac Athletics)

Jordan Samuels-Thomas had two rules when he shopped around
for a new college in the spring of 2011 after spending two
frustrating seasons at Bowling Green.

Samuels-Thomas didn't want to be part of another rebuilding
project after seeing the Bowling Green program go through two
coaching changes in his two seasons. Second, Samuels-Thomas wanted
to find a school close to his home in Windsor, Conn.

Samuels-Thomas decided on Quinnipiac, a school 40 minutes
from his hometown. Coach Randy Pecknold gave Jordan-Thomas his
assurances, despite the team's seventh-place finish in ECAC Hockey
in 2010-11, the Bobcats would compete for conference championships
soon.

Less than two years later, Quinnipiac (18-3-3 overall,
11-0-1) is in the hunt for a national championship, currently
boasting the longest unbeaten streak in NCAA Division 1 at 17 games
(15-0-2). In the most recent Pairwise rankings, Quinnipiac is the
top-ranked team in the nation.

“Honestly, I wanted to be on a team that was
ranked,” Jordan-Thomas says. “But being part of this, I
couldn't have foreseen that. I knew we had a good team that would
compete for championships. We've been on quite a roll. We're put
together so well, and we're so well coached. But I'd be lying if I
said I wasn't surprised by our success.”

Samuels-Thomas is a perfect example of Quinnipiac's success
story. After leading Bowling Green in points as a freshman and
sophomore, he has accepted a lesser role after a redshirt season
last winter. The redshirt junior has recorded seven goals and five
assists in 24 games, spending most of his time on the third line.
He ranks fourth on the team in points behind senior captain Jeremy
Langlois (11-12-23), senior forward Clay Harvey (3-12-15) and
sophomore forward Matthew Peca (7-7-14).

“When I talked to Coach Pecknold before I came here,
he walked me through the foundation of the program,”
Samuels-Thomas says. “He talked about Peca, who would be
there when it was my turn to start playing. It seemed like we'd be
a team that would catch people by surprise. It made sense to
me.”

Quinnipiac started the season with a record of 3-3-1 in its
first seven games. Its losses came against Robert Morris, Colgate
and American International. After spending a year off the ice on
game day, Samuels-Thomas struggled to find his rhythm.

“Last year was a tough year because I wanted to
contribute,” Samuels-Thomas says. “All the games I
played before Christmas this year were all over the map. I figured
out my game after Christmas break, and as a team, we learned we
have to play our best game no matter who we play.”

All 10 of Quinnipiac's remaining regular-season games will
be played against ECAC opponents.The Bobcats are perfect in league play thus far this season
– a trend Samuels-Thomas expects to continue.

“I think we go into every weekend wanting four
points,” Samuels-Thomas said “If we pay attention to
the details, we know everything we do will contribute to whether we
win or lose. The small details need to be taken care of first, and
the bigger things will come.”

Game of the week

Quinnipiac at YaleSaturday, Feb. 4 (7 p.m.), Ingalls Rink

The No. 1 team in the nation in the Pairwise Rankings,
Quinnipiac, will put its NCAA-best 17-game unbeaten streak on the
line Saturday in a battle with the Bulldogs, who currently sit in a
tie for fifth in the Pairwise Rankings. Yale has also been strong
of late. The Bulldogs had a five-game winning streak snapped last
weekend in a loss to Colgate.

Player of the week

Joe Zarbo, Clarkson UniversitySophomore, Forward

Zarbo recorded a hat trick – Clarkson's first in over
two years – Friday night in a 5-1 win at Harvard. He came
back the next night by scoring Clarkson's lone goal in a 5-1 loss
at Dartmouth. He finished the weekend with a plus-3 rating. He
leads the conference in goals scored with nine.

Power Rankings

Quinnipiac (18-3-3, 11-0-1):The last time
the Bobcats earned the top ranking in the Pairwise was in 2009
after opening the season at 12-1-0.

Yale (12-5-3, 8-4-1):The Bulldogs' loss to
Colgate Saturday snapped a six-game unbeaten streak. Still, they
should feel no shame after splitting with Cornell and Colgate in
one of the toughest road swings in conference play. The Elis
average 3.20 goals per game and allow 2.70.

Union (13-8-4, 6-4-3):The Dutchmen have had
arguably the top special teams play of any team in the NCAA this
season. They rank second in the country on the penalty kill (91.2
percent) and first on the power play (26.3 percent).

Dartmouth(11-7-2, 7-5-1):Dartmouth's core will be back next season. Sophomore Tyler
Sikura (9-16-25) and juniors Matt Lindblad (9-14-23) and Eric
Robinson (10-6-16) lead the team in scoring. Junior Cab Morris, who
is the team primary goaltender, has logged an 8-3-1 record with a
1.99 GAA.

Princeton (7-8-4, 5-4-3):The Tigers are
trending upward. They have won their last two games and are 4-1
since New Year's Day. They ranked third in the nation on the power
play and 11thon the penalty kill.

RPI (8-11-5, 3-6-3):The Engineers continue
to compete with the top teams in the nation. They last time out,
they gave Union all it could handle in a 3-2 defeat at the
Times-Union Center. Sophomore forwards Ryan Haggerty (10-8-18) and
Jacob Laliberte (7-10-17) continue to improve each game.

Colgate (13-9-2, 5-6-1):Freshman goalie
Spencer Finney has been huge for Colgate. Last weekend, Finney
stopped 30-plus shots in each of the Raiders' wins over Brown and
Yale. After allowing two goals on 69 shots, he ranks in the top
five in the league in every goaltending category.

Cornell (8-9-2, 4-6-2):The Big Red have seen
better days. They suffered a rare sweep at Lynah Rink last weekend
with losses to Yale and Brown. In the 3-0 loss to Brown, they were
shut out for the first time since Dec. 3, 2011.

St. Lawrence (11-10-3, 4-5-3):The Saints
might be the most improved team in the ECAC in the new year. They
are riding a four-game unbeaten streak after sweeping Dartmouth and
Harvard on the road last week. The streak comes on the heels of a
stretch in which the Saints won only one game in their previous
seven.

Brown (7-9-4, 3-6-4):The Bears have earned
splits each of the last three weekends. They split at Colgate and
Cornell last weekend, losing to the Raiders before defeating
Cornell. The Bears have won five of their last eight
games.

Clarkson (5-13-6, 4-6-2):Clarkson has
struggled at Cheel Arena this year with just a 1-8-2 record at
home, but the Green and Gold have the opportunity to improve upon
that mark with six of their final 10 games in Potsdam.

Harvard (5-13-1, 3-11-0): The biggest bright spot for Harvard in
an otherwise disappointing season has been freshman Jimmy Vesey,
who notched four goals in three league contests last week. Vesey
leads all rookies nationally with 0.62 goals per game.